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Ammon~cthul's Last Stand, Story and Illustration {WIP}| BONE IDOL |
Posted: Dec 1 2005, 01:46 PM
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Asylum guest  Group: Members Posts: 10 Member No.: 27 Joined: 29-November 05  |
Ok, this is my first attempt at writing a TK story, inspired by an illustration I'm doing (see below.) representing the second last stand of Ammon~Cthul (yeah, I know the names still wrong on the pic!) Ammon~Cthul is an actual model (he looks pretty much like the illustration) I'm working on at the moment...he was the last king of Cthulos...
The image looks a little grainy (this is the last time I use gif! jpeg much better IMO) its actually a lot more detailed (I've got some closeups somewhere on my Photobucket account which I'll post later...aahh...found 'em!) Anyway, hope you enjoy! Bone Idol -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Close~ups http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y181/BONE...-Closeup-01.gif http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y181/BONE...-Closeup-02.gif http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y181/BONE...-Closeup-03.gif The battle had raged throughout the day and now the sun hung low over the western horizon…A baleful, bronze eye casting long, dancing shadows over the bloody scene played out on the desert sands below… Ammon~Ra rested heavily on his curved bronze blade, taking advantage of the temporary lull in the battle. Though he had not felt physical exhaustion for several lifetimes, the relentless assault of the Orcite horde had left him drained and weary in ways beyond the understanding of flesh, sinew and bone… For hours his light cavalry and chariots had harried the Orcite flanks, probing for the slightest weakness. They had found none. Relentlessly his spearmen had attacked in the blazing sun, hoping that heat and exhaustion would bring the Orcites to their knees…It had not, the countless bodies littered in the wake of the Orcite advance paid testament to the greenskins stamina and brutality. After the death of his High Priestess Atophekah his army had quite literally melted away, those few that remained held upright by the force of his will alone. Now came the endgame…Ammon~Ra and the pitiful remains of his army, less than 300 of his elite Scorpion Guard and a handful of archers had drawn up against the temple mount. Arranged across the valley waited an Orcite force several thousand strong. Ammon~Ra squinted across the red-tinged sands, trying to pick out the enemy general. He found him…A giant beast clad head to toe in iron, it towered over it’s followers bellowing it’s orders for the final assault. Ammon~Ra had never seen such a beast! Skin so dark it appeared as black in the fading light. Arms thicker than a man’s thigh and twice as strong. Bestial features twisted in a permenant snarl displaying giant yellowed fangs…How could such a creature command, wondered Ammon~Ra? How could something so savage and brutal, so animal, show such a deftness of command, or possess such an understanding of military tactics? How could such a monster, without formal military training, have bested his finest generals, who had studied the arts of war throughout their lives, had honed their skills for centuries in death? They had crushed countless enemies through the centuries…now their bones had been trodden into the desert sands beneath the iron-shod feet of this abomination of reason. How? In Settra’s name, how…? Of course, Ammon~Ra knew the answer, though his pride caused him to shrink from it. Skilled though his generals were in the arts of war, here was an opponent forged in the very fires of conflict, born to the way of sword and axe. How could mere men stand against war personified, against death made flesh? Perhaps it’s primitive senses alerted it to his gaze, for the beast looked up, it’s piglike red eyes locked on Ammon-Ra’s. For a second he held it’s gaze across the valley, before the beast let out a great roar the like of which Ammon~Ra had never heard before the Orcite horde spilt forth, covering the sands in their foulness. As they came they beat upon their shields with their axes, spitting and cursing in their guttural tongue. For the first time that day Ammon~Ra’s ancient face cracked into a grim smile. Such a cacophony is enough to wake the dead, he thought, if any left in this accursed land slept so peacefully… The Orcite advance gathered pace…three hundred yards and the remaining Khemrian archers let fly…to little noticeable effect. Earlier that day their black-fletched arrows had been beyond number, filling the skies with each volley til it seemed they must block out the sun. Now they barely thinned the front ranks of the greenskin horde…Two hundred yards…Ammon~Ra raised his left hand…As one the Scorpion Guard unsheathed their blades and locked shields…the rasping noise as three hundred blades slid simultaneously from their shields sounding a sharp note even over the din of the advancing Orcites…a hundred yards…fifty…The Orcite horde let out a terrible wailing cry, breaking into a run…twenty yards…ten… With a deafening clash of steel the green wave broke upon the Khemrian shield wall. The Scorpion Guard wavered for an instant before the horde, but held firm, ancient bronze blades flashing, cleaving through iron and flesh alike… Ammon~Ra ducked beneath the greenskins decapitating stoke, his own blade snaking out in response, finding the creatures throat. A heavy blow caught upon his shield spun him around…he let the movement take him, pivoting in a deadly arc his return stoke cleft the abomination across the abdomen, the two halves falling away in a fountain of blood and entrails. Looking up he saw the Orcite Chieftain locked in combat with his champion Nptek, the finest swordsman in all the Scorpion Guard. Deftly sidestepping the Orcite's heavy cleaver, the Khemrian's blade shot out, catching the Orcite in the shoulder, a blow that would have felled any man…The Orcite barely slowed as it’s own blade smashed into the champions hurling him down in a shower of shattered bone fragments… “[b]You…!” Ammon~Ra’s rasping voice rang out above the din of battle. “I know you, abomination. I took your fathers head at Djembala! And his father before him…Perhaps it is time for you to rejoin your forebears!” He levelled his bronze blade at the huge beast, before snapping off the traditional duelling salute of Khemrian noble with an exaggerated flourish. The Orcite closed with Ammon~Ra, bellowing to it’s primitive gods…It swatted aside the Scorpion Guardsman who bravely stepped to block it’s path as if he were of no more consequence than an annoying insect, smashing his skull to bone-dust . Ammon~Ra waited impassively, his bronze blade held lightly by his side…Once such a sight would have filled him with fear and excitement in equal measure, setting his heart pounding, the blood rushing in his ears…Now there was nothing but the cold-burning hatred, refined and nurtured over centuries of warfare with this brutal, inhuman foe. With a final roar the giant Orcite barrelled into Ammon~Ra, bringing it’s massive iron cleaver down in a vicious arc. Ammon~Ra brought his blade up just in time, though the force of the blow drove him to his knees. The Orcite warlords knee crashed into his chest, hurling him back onto the temple steps. Stunned he gazed up to see the beast towering over him, blotting out the last rays of the dying sun. Kicking out, he rolled to his left, the Orcite’s blade cutting a deep gouge from the temple’s marble steps where his head had rested an instant before… Regaining his feet and his composure, Ammon~Ra faced his opponent with renewed determination. The beast drove Ammon~Ra back up the temple steps. Skilled swordsman though he was, it was all the ancient Tomb King could do to parry the beast’s relentless, savage blows. His shield was hammered from his grasp, clattering back down the temple steps…Til finally they stood upon the very threshold of the temple…Ammon~Ra stumbled backwards, finding no further steps behind him. The Orcite drove home it’s advantage, it’s cleaver raised high for the killing blow...too late Ammon~Ra realised the danger, his own blade rising to block the inevitable downward stoke… …The beasts massive cleaver decended…Ammon~Ra’s blade, that had not failed him in several centuries of warfare, failed him now, shattering like glass under the power of the blow. The Orcites blade continued it’s desent smashing through the Tomb Kings elaborate armour, through flesh, through collar bone and ribs, finally jamming into his spine. Ammon~Ra let out a dry gasp through his ruined throat as the Orcites leering face loomed in, it’s tiny red eyes staring deeply into the Tomb Kings as the blue balefire that burnt in his empty sockets flickered and dimmed… …The beasts face twisted in horror and surprise as Ammon~Ra’s arm shot out catching the Orcite by the throat in his withered grasp. The beast struggled vainly, it’s massive fists pounding into the Tomb Kings chest. It may as well have attempted to beat down the very temple itself. Empty sockets flared blue, then violet, then white as Ammon~Ra heaved the Orcite clear of the floor, snapping it’s neck like a dry reed between his slender fingers… Stooping, Ammon~Ra took up the Orcite's blade and, still holding the beasts corpse aloft, moved to the head off the temple steps. The scene that greeted him was from his worst nightmares. The Scorpion Guard had been butchered to a man, the Orcites tossing their corpses high in the air in celebration, yelling their savage victory . At the sight of Ammon~Ra cresting the temple steps holding their Chieftain’s corpse aloft like a banner a great, wailing cry went up from the horde gathered at the foot of the temple. The Orcites beat their shields again, several thousand cruel sets of eyes locked upon the withered form of the Tomb King, burning with pure animal hatred. He stood proud and erect, a sneer contemptuous sneer curled upon his dry lips as he met their gaze unflinchingly. “For Khemri! For the Land, for my forefathers…And for the coming paradise that was promised!” Ammon~Ra cried out to the heavens, casting the beasts body down the steps. He leapt down into the Orcite horde and the green tide washed over him…[/B] --------------------  |
 
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